Hello again!
Thought I might try and get another chapter up.
Lots of thanks to go out, seems like quite a few people like Lex. I mean what's not to love? Little bit of psycho thrown in with good banter and sarcasm. Makes for a good mix, right?
Thanks to p0mel0, AliceCullen3 and rosafern for their reviews.
Thank you also to Acklesldjit, lildavidscat, McFassy, spud329, Spirit92, Lovely-Daisy, mr. uroboros, Alice-Hatter, claryyyy, Kath3rin, JessicaWxo, VanishingDrag0n, retractedmoonlight, Symone1234, kkdall123, loren2002, Jedi-Olympian, YouFoundJojo, LetYourHeartFly and strawberrylily for joining the fun.
So, shall we continue?
**SPOILER ALERT**
DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN AVENGERS ENDGAME AND DO NOT WANT IT SPOILED FOR YOU!
Otherwise...
Enjoy
xo
Chapter 29
Assumptions
Lex sat in the back of the sedan beside Scott Lang, her mind still sifting through the information she had been given by the trio. It was a lot to take in, and Scott was often veering off on other tangents, but eventually she got the gist of what they were saying.
The problem was, the whole plan depended on having someone with the brain to make the calculations necessary to traverse the Quantum Realm. They needed Tony Stark.
Lex remembered well her last meeting with Tony Stark, although she personally didn't remember all of it. She recalled fighting him in the silo, but only up to the point where the silo collapsed down around her.
She sat with her elbow resting on the door's arm rest, her hand propped against her face as she stared out the window at the scenery that rushed past as they drove through the New York countryside. She saw nothing, though, off in her own thoughts.
"So, uh, long time no see, huh?" Scott said from the other side of the back seat. She didn't look at him, grunting in response. "How's the Super Soldiering been going?"
She shot him a sidelong glance, not moving her head from her hands. "Would you like to find out?"
Scott's expression faltered slightly, before he coughed and looked out his own window.
"Be nice, Lex," Natasha admonished the older woman, twisting in her seat to look back at her. Lex looked at the Russian woman with a deadpan expression. "Those looks may work on the boys, but remember, I've been on the receiving end of them too."
Lex tried not to let the grin that threatened to grace her lips show. Of course, Natasha would know the look, and would now be immune to them. It was part of their training as Black Widows, to silence a man with one look, or to seduce them with another. And Lex was very good at it, when she wanted to be.
Natasha smirked at her before turning back around in her seat.
They were soon driving down a dirt road, towards a humble looking cottage situated on the edge of a lake. Lex climbed out of the car, looking around with mild interest. This was where the billionaire playboy had decided to retire? Surely, there was a catch here. Or that snap changed a lot of things.
She had been receiving constant reports from Steve and Natasha, even if she had never responded to them. She'd heard about the new arrival called "Captain Marvel", not long after the snap had happened. Apparently, a former US Air Force pilot from the 90s who had single-handedly stopped some alien invasion that Lex had never heard about. She had also heard about the return of Stark from space, with the help of Marvel and an alien/cyborg lifeform named Nebula. Both she and Rocket the Raccoon had come from the same crew of space travellers that called themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy.
From all reports, Tony had not been well on his return, that could be why he had opted for the quiet life. Then Lex spotted something that raised her eyebrows. Children's toys. From what she could tell, possibly a girl or girls, what with the copious amounts of them. She looked to the patio of the cottage, and standing at the door, with a small girl in his arms, was Tony.
He glanced at all four of them, a concerned expression on his face, before he sighed and put the girl back on her own feet. "Go see mummy, daddy's got to chat to his friends."
Lex's eyebrows raised and she glanced at Steve and Natasha, neither looked surprised. And Scott, he seemed to be beaming at Tony. Knowing that Scott was also a father, she figured he was probably feeling some amount of proud at not being the only dad in the group anymore. She rolled her eyes at the thought.
Tony sat across from Scott, listening to Scott as he explained his theory. Lex listened, with her back to the pair, watching out over the landscape around them. She leaned against one of the patio supports, her arms folded across her chest.
As she had suspected the second she had seen the child in Tony's arms, he was dead against assisting.
"But what if it doesn't work, what if we change everything?"
She answered then. "I don't think jumping through the Quantum Realm works like that," she piped up. There was silence behind her, and she looked back to find all four were staring at her. "It's not like we are pushing through our own time dimension, we are pushing into someone else's."
"Uh…when did you take an interest in time travel and Quantum Physics?" Stark demanded, furrowing his brow as he looked her up and down. "Last I checked, you were the muscle?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups, Stark, being a scientist, I would have thought you would know that?"
"And there's the muscle I recognise!"
"What did you mean, you don't think that's how the Quantum Realm works?" Steve asked curiously.
"I think these guys watch too many movies. Jumping through the Quantum Realm will dump you in another time line, not into your own. What's happened here has already happened, you couldn't change that. You can only alter it in the present." Tony and Scott stared at Lex, and she looked back at them with a raised eyebrow before sighing, turning to walk away with a shake of her head. "Forget it, I'm waiting in the car."
"She clearly has never watched Back to the Future," Tony whispered, earning a scoff of agreement from Scott.
"I watched all three, thank you very much." She skulked back to the car, slamming the door shut after she had climbed into the back seat.
She slouched into the seat, her teeth grinding as she stewed over Tony's dismissal of her logic. Whatever, she was no scientist anyway. She looked out her window, the lake spread out wide outside. The sun shone down, reflecting off the ripples and a mountain off into the distance jutted high above it. She sighed again, before reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out her phone.
She unlocked the screen and opened up the photo album. The screen was filled with a few pictures, taken years ago, in Wakanda. Pictures of her with Shuri, smiling brightly and displaying peace signs with her hands, while the barest of smiles touched Lex's lips. Pictures Shuri had forced her to take with Nakia and Okoye, and even T'Challa, although he never smiled in them.
Then there were the ones that had been taken well before Thanos had appeared, not long after she, Steve and Bucky had first arrived in Wakanda. Shuri had always been taking photos then, it was like the girl had a camera attached to her hand. Well, a system that activated the camera system in built into the palace and labs, anyway. There were pictures of her, Steve and Bucky talking in the hospital, in the labs, she'd even managed to sneak some while Bucky and she were having a heart to heart after they had stopped Tony from killing Bucky.
Lex had been annoyed at first, when Shuri had shown them to her after the snap. Actually, she had been downright livid and yelled at the teen, locking herself away before taking off to the mountains where she decided to remain. That hadn't stopped the teen princess, now turned interim Queen in T'Challa's absence. She had hacked Lex's phone, leaving the photos in her albums, only for her to discover them quite some time later.
She would never admit it, but she was mildly grateful to the stubborn Wakandan.
Her thumb hovered over the image of she and Bucky sitting side by side on her hospital bed, talking as the sun set outside the window they were looking out. She remembered that conversation vividly, he had told her he was going back on ice.
She felt her eyes heat slightly, and was quick to shut the app, taking a deep breath in order to settle her nerves. None too soon, as she saw the others returning to the car. They opened their doors, climbing in and Steve started the car.
Lex was quiet for a moment, looking between the three of them expectantly, but no one spoke. "He said no, I take it?"
"I don't get it!" Scott breathed in annoyance. "I was sure he would do it."
"If you had to risk losing your daughter again, would you do it?" Lex asked quietly. Scott looked at her for a moment, blinking a few times. "He's scared." She gave him a pointed look, before turning to look at Steve, who was looking behind them as he reversed out the driveway. "So?"
"He's not wrong."
"Yeah, but I mean, what are we gonna do?" Scott asked in exasperation. "We need him. What, are we gonna stop?"
"No. I wanna do it right," Steve replied. "We're gonna need a really big brain." Lex saw Steve glance sideways at Natasha as he pulled onto the highway.
"Bigger than his?" Scott asked in confusion. Lex grinned, understanding who they were referring to. Scott looked between the two women, narrowing his eyes. "Okay, you both have the same expression on your faces and it's making me really nervous."
Lex sat squashed into a booth beside Steve, having refused to sit next to Scott. Steve knew that she found his jokes and constantly jovial disposition agitating at a distance, so he didn't force the issue.
Her shoulder brushed up against his as she tried to move further away from their old friend. It made Steve chuckle to see her react like that. Gees, he would have loved for Bucky to see this.
Bruce Banner, who now took the form as The Hulk, motioned to a huge bowl of scrambled eggs before pushing them towards Scott. "Come on. I feel like I'm the only one eating. Try some of that, have some eggs." His big green mouth splitting to reveal a smile of pearly whites. Lex shifted again, closer still to Steve. Steve couldn't help but chuckle again, but shifted his body slightly, moving his arm to rest on the back of the booth seat behind her and turning his body so his back was resting against the wall, allowing her a little more room.
Lex leaned back against Steve again, this time turning her head slightly. "Uh, what did I miss?"
Steve looked back at Bruce and thought about where to begin.
"I'm so confused," Scott murmured, also staring up at Bruce. It was Bruce, at least it sounded like him and behaved like him. But it was The Hulk's body, all eight-foot, green muscle packed stature of him.
"These are confusing times."
"Right. No, no..." Scott was quick to try and back pedal on his comment. "That's not what I meant. I..."
Bruce looked downcast in response. "No, I get it." He looked from Lex to Scott before a mischievous glint entered his eye. "I'm kidding! I know. It's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now." He laughed and Lex furrowed her brow and shifted nervously again, her shoulder pushing into Steve's chest. Being that close to her felt strange, but not awkward.
He recalled the last time he was this close to her, straight after the snap. He had held her close in order to console her, knowing full well that Bucky would not have wanted her to deal with it on her own. She had cried for a good five minutes, before shrugging him off and disappearing into the night. He had not seen her again until they departed for New York, and even then, it was not without the persistence of Shuri. She had kept her distance from all of them, withdrawing herself to barely a few words of goodbye.
Steve's attention turned back to the current situation, watching as Scott tried to formulate a sentence in regard to Bruce's new condition.
"Yeah! How? Why?"
Steve felt Lex stiffen slightly at the mischievous grin that appeared on Bruce's face at Scott's question. He chuckled, leaning forward against her back and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. He likes to mess with people occasionally," Steve murmured quietly into Lex's ear.
She turned her head slightly and flicked her gaze up to meet his. "He better be careful who he messes with." Steve chuckled again, squeezing her shoulder, and Lex seemed to stiffen again, a look of concern spreading across her face. She was quick to shift herself slightly to put a small gap between them, shrugging Steve's hand off her shoulder.
Steve immediately felt bad, realizing he had actually made her uncomfortable when he had been trying to do the exact opposite. He had certainly gotten better at dealing with women, but Lex was a whole different kind to what he was used to.
"Five years ago, we got our asses beat," Bruce began, putting his knife and fork down. "Except it was worse for me, because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost. Then Banner lost. Then, we all lost.
"No one blamed you, Bruce," Natasha comforted, looking sympathetically at him.
"I did. For years I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me. Best of both worlds."
Lex shifted further away from Steve, seeming far more comfortable with Bruce's new form. Steve smiled at her, glad that she was there with them. It was the least he could do for Bucky right now. He couldn't imagine how she could have coped being all alone, in the mountains of Wakanda. He had kept tabs on her, with thanks to Shuri and some of the other leaders in Wakanda. They had all kept an eye on her, concerned for the woman who had at one point helped save Wakanda and their King, T'Challa.
Several children suddenly appeared at Bruce's side, their eyes lit with wonder and awe.
"Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?"
Bruce turned to look at them, smiling brightly down at them. "Yes?"
"Can we get a photo?" They held out a phone towards him, with pleading smiles on their faces.
"100%, little person. Come on, step on up. You mind?" Bruce held out the phone to Scott.
"Oh. Yeah, sure."
"Say "green."" They squeezed closer together. "Green."
"Greeeen." Scott pressed the phone screen a few times, before finally lowering the phone.
"Did you get that?" Bruce asked, leaning towards Scott, who turned the phone for them to see. "That's good."
Scott moved to hand the phone back to the kids. "Don't you wanna grab one with me?" the children looked at him in confusion, shuffling awkwardly. "I'm Ant-Man."
Steve heard Lex cough, obviously to hide a laugh. Honestly, Steve may have felt the urge to laugh himself, but refrained in order not to hurt Scott's feelings. The kids were doing a good enough job of that.
"They're Hulk fans," Scott replied, somewhat awkwardly. "They don't know Ant-Man." He waved them off, trying to appear nonchalant. "Nobody does," Scott sighed. He moved to hand the phone back to the kids again.
"Wait, no, no, he wants to..." Bruce tried to interject. "You want to take a picture with him, right?"
Two of the three children just looked awkwardly at each other, while the smallest of the three began to shake his head. Lex began to howl with laughter, even while Steve tried to nudge her to get her to stop. Natasha looked out the window awkwardly in an effort not to laugh at the situation herself.
"He's even saying no he doesn't. I get it. I don't want it either. I don't want a picture with them," Scott said, shaking his head in dismay.
"He's gonna feel bad," Bruce tried to implore the kids, who now looked torn and sheepish.
"Sorry," Scott said to the kids.
"They're happy to. They said they'd do it," Bruce pressed, motioning to the kids with his head.
"I don't want it anymore," Scott muttered, starting to sound annoyed. Steve rubbed his forehead and looked down at the table in an effort not to watch the awkward exchange anymore.
"You'd feel bad..." Bruce said trying to encourage Scott.
"Take the goddamn phone," Scott exclaimed, thrusting it towards the children, who accepted it gratefully before turning to hurry away.
"Thank you, Mr. Hulk."
"No, it's great, kids. Thank you very much," Bruce called after the retreating kids, before throwing a wave up. "Hulk out!"
"Bruce," Steve tried to call his attention back to their conversation. Having a conversation with Bruce had become hard since he had embraced his inner green. While he was Bruce Banner, very few recognized him, but in his Hulk form, everyone knew who he was and constantly wanted photos with him. And he liked to live up to the hype.
"Dab," Bruce said as he tried to perform the pop culture move by the same name.
"Bruce," Natasha said, shaking her head at him.
"Listen to your Mom. She knows better."
"Please stop trying to be the cool dad figure, you look like something off a cereal box," Lex said loudly, flicking his hand finally. Bruce jumped in surprise and looked down at her. She motioned back to the others with her head and Bruce looked apologetic before looking back to Steve.
"About what we were saying..."
"Right." Bruce sighed, thoughtful for a few seconds. "The whole time travel do-over? Guys, it's outside of my area of expertise."
"Well, you pulled this off," Steve responded, motioning to Bruce. "I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible, too." Bruce was quiet for a moment looking around at the group, his gaze resting on Lex last.
She raised an eyebrow, cocking her head to one side. "If you're looking for an awe-inspiring speech about everyone that was lost and returning the good in the world, then you need to look at this guy," she said, motioning with a thumb towards Steve. He couldn't help but smirk a little at that. Even if she hadn't meant it, that had sounded an awful like she actually respected him in a way. "If you want someone to tell you to stop ass farting around and to just get the job done, then you could probably speak to me."
Bruce looked at Lex in amusement, a small smile spreading on his lips again. Finally, he nodded. Steve looked from each of his friends faces. They were going to do this. They would make this work, they had to.
xo
Krayzee
